Mah Shemo?

August 29, 2017

I promise the title of this post is not misspelled. It is actually the Hebrew way of saying, “What is the meaning of your name?” or “What is the significance of your name?” or, “What makes you… you?” (Thanks John Mark Comer for the little Hebrew lesson).

So, mah shemo?

Well, let me clarify. Liana Mikah is not my real name, it is my business name. I actually come from the family line of Ryapolovs. Ryapahrhowa what? I get that a lot. Hence, a business name that is not so complicated to pronounce. Although, I still get a lot of, Liana Micah? No, no – not Micah. Meek-ah. Anyway, yes you guessed it. My origin is Russian. I was born in White Church, Ukraine and we immigrated to America when I was only 7 months old. My mama is Ukrainian and my pops is Russian. I love my heritage and the fact that we were forced to go to Russian classes. I now get to put bilingual on my resume because of that and yes ma, you were right (as you always are), it definitely has it’s benefits and I am thankful that you put me through all those classes.

Okay cool story Liana. But why Mikah?

Ah, good question. Mikah is my little brothers nickname. His real name is Michael. And being the older sister – when Michael joined our family, there was a 6-year difference between him and my little sister Jessie (if you are reading this J, you are welcome). So, imagine a 6 year difference since the last time we had a cute, little chubby joy running around our home. You bet I became quite literally obsessed with this cute lil’ ruscat. So in honor of my love for this little kid, I decided to name my business after him. Now he’s a handsome and uber talented soccer boy who has me all heart eyes. He is 12 now, WHAT. And he has his own Youtube channel, but he doesn’t stop there, he ALSO owns his own slime business. Following after his family of entrepreneurs. I am so proud of him!

Well, there you have it. So what is the significance of my name? My family. My bloodline. My gift from above. I am so thankful to God every single day that he gave me such a gift. And that he honored me to be the first born. To set the example. To show love. To inspire. And beyond all that, I am so thankful to the most supportive parents. Who have pushed me in the right direction, to chase my dreams. To go against all odds. To keep creating. I will never stop thanking you for raising me. For investing in me. For being parents that I can call best friends.

Love how you combined it in the business name. Definitely makes it more special. It’s funny my sons name is Michael and my daughter (almost two) pronounces his name mikah. So it became a nickname for him in our family. 🙂